Study of Demand-led Strategies: Engaging Employers to Improve ... · Study of Demand-led Strategies: Engaging Employers to Improve Employment Outcomes for BC Youth Prepared for the

This project is funded in whole or in part by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia.

Study of Demand-led Strategies: Engaging Employers to Improve Employment Outcomes for BC Youth Prepared for the BC Centre for Employment Excellence by Tom Zizys September 2014

Study of Demand-led Strategies:

Engaging Employers to Improve Employment Outcomes for BC Youth

BC Centre for Employment Excellence 1

This research has been prepared by Tom Zizys for the BC Centre for Employment Excellence (a division of the Social

Research and Demonstration Corporation) as part of the research project, Understanding Current Employment Programming

and Services for BC Youth. It has been undertaken independently and solely on the basis of information collected and

analyzed by the researcher with reasonable care to ensure its reliability.

The opinions expressed herein are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of the BC Centre for Employment

Excellence, the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation, or the BC Ministry of Social Development and Social

Innovation.

Visit www.cfeebc.org for more information on the BC Centre for Employment Excellence.

http://www.cfeebc.org/




Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Data Review: Labour Market Data for BC Youth 5

Introduction 5

Unemployment 5

Participation Rate 7

School Attendance 9

Labour Market Outcomes: Job Permanence 11

Labour Market Outcomes: Type of Work 11

Labour Market Outcomes: Occupations 12

Summary of Labour Market Trends for BC Youth 18

Shifting Attention to the Demand Side of the Labour Market 20

Framing the Demand Side of the Labour Market 20

The Importance of Workplace Training 22

Demand-side Strategies to Improve Labour Market Outcomes for Youth 23

Enabling Demand-focused Strategies 33

Encouraging “Youth-positive” Human Resources Practices 37

Rationale for Exploring Human Resources Practices 37

Four Profiles 40

Conclusion and Recommendations 43




Introduction

The labour market dynamic that operates in British Columbia (BC) is very much the same as that

experienced in Canada and the rest of North America: entrants to the workforce are generally expected

to come to a job with a set of skills, typically validated by a certificate, diploma or degree. Our education

system has greatly expanded to support the ability of individuals to stay in school longer and to acquire

the appropriate qualifications, whether through the apprenticeship system, or via community colleges

or universities.

Publicly funded employment services apply a significant portion of their effort toward assisting

individuals in seeking job openings and in presenting themselves in the most effective way, through

their resumes, cover letters and their performance in interviews. All of this can be described as a

supply-side approach to the labour market: putting the emphasis on perspective employees, on their

acquisition of skills, on how they present themselves, and in matching them to job opportunities.

But the demand side of the equation, what employers seek, what jobs are available, how skills are

developed and utilized in a workplace, and what opportunities exist for career advancement, are all

highly relevant to the labour market outcomes of employees. The intersection of supply and demand in

the case of the labour market is not only a matching exercise — that is, the placing of an unemployed

individual into a job opening. It is also evident in relation to the issue of skills: some of the skills

necessary to do a job develop from doing the job itself — what we call experience. Thus, the

development of work skills on the part of a job seeker depends to some degree on actual work

experience, which is only something that an employer can offer.

This issue is particularly relevant to youth, whose greatest challenge in accessing a job is often the lack

of work experience. This experience can be acquired to varying degrees through a number of

opportunities: summer jobs, work experience placements as part of an educational program (including

co-ops), internships, and through workplace training as part of a young person’s development as an

employee.

While many employers provide such opportunities, more can be done — not only for the purpose of

supporting the transition of youth into the workforce, but also for the sake of businesses, to meet their

recruitment needs and contribute to their bottom-line results.

These benefits for employers are often realized further in the future, while immediate considerations

are inertia, cost and untried practices. Thus, while individual employers may engage in workforce

development, expanding the scale of these practices requires deliberate, demand-focused strategies

that engage employers, often in partnership with educators, employment services, economic

development offices and other labour market stakeholders.

Demand-focused strategies focus on how to engage employers and are less defined by the employee

population being served. There is therefore a certain artificiality to singling out demand-led strategies

for youth. However, as noted earlier, the challenges youth face in the current labour market context,

particularly relating to the issue of experience, are precisely the type of issues that demand-led

strategies seek to overcome.




This paper is organized as follows:

A review of labour market data relating to BC youth. The purpose of this section is to profile the

broad labour market indicators for youth, such as unemployment and participation rates, as well as

to focus in on youth labour market outcomes. It addresses the question: are BC youth accessing

better jobs as a result of the increase in education attainment levels?

A description of demand-side approaches. This section is a review of the literature concerning the

basis of demand-side strategies and their application. It addresses the questions: what do we mean

by demand-side approaches, how are they tied to the issue of skills formation, and how might they

be applied to youth?

A profile of encouraging employer practices. This section raises the questions: What appetite might

employers have for these practices? It describes the current policies of certain employers to engage

and develop youth talent in their organizations as an illustration of the applicability of such

approaches.

The paper concludes with several recommendations for promoting a demand-led approach to labour

market programs in British Columbia.




Data Review: Labour Market Data for BC Youth

Introduction

The purpose of this section is threefold:

To provide some basic data regarding the labour market circumstances of youth ― in particular,

figures relating to their unemployment rate and participation rate. We aim here to provide the

appropriate context: how have the unemployment and participation rates changed, and what is the

experience of different youth subgroups, by age and by education?

To highlight the increased educational attainment of youth, measured by larger numbers of young

people staying in school longer and achieving higher level certificates, diplomas and degrees; and

To examine the labour market outcomes of youth, in terms of the quality of the job (permanent vs.

temporary, full-time vs. part-time), as well as outcomes by occupation.

Unemployment

In terms of labour market statistics, we will first examine the unemployment rate. Figure 1 illustrates

the unemployment rate for youth (aged 15‒24 years old) and adults (25 years and older) in British

Columbia. By and large, the youth unemployment tracks the adult unemployment rate, only

consistently higher.

Figure 1 Unemployment Rate for Youth and Adults, British Columbia (1990‒2013)

Starting in the late 1990s, the youth unemployment rate has been more than double that of adults.

Figure 2 tracks that ratio and compares it to figures for Canada and for Ontario.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

1990 9

1

92

93

94

1995 9

6

97

98

99

2000 0

1

02

03

04

2005 0

6

07

08

09

2010 1

1

12

2013

15-24 year olds 25 years+




Figure 2 Comparison of Ratios of Youth and Adult Unemployment Rate, British Columbia, Ontario

and Canada (1990‒2013)

The ratio of youth-to-adult unemployment rates in British Columbia pretty well matches that for

Canada as a whole. Following the onset of the recession in 2008, that ratio starting increasing, reaching

2.36 in 2012 and 2.35 in 2013. The ratio for Ontario has been regularly higher, and for the last 15 years

has hovered around or above the 2.5 mark (that is, where the youth unemployment rate is two-and-a-

half times that of adults).

When the unemployment rate is further unpacked by age, one can see that the younger the age group,

the higher its unemployment rate is, and when the economy weakens, the impact of rising

unemployment is borne disproportionately, as the unemployment rate for the youngest group registers

the greatest increase.

Figure 3 Unemployment Rate for Select Age Groups, British Columbia (1990‒2013)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

19

90

91

92

93

94

19

95

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98

99

20

00

01

02

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04

20

05

06

07

08

09

20

10

11

12

20

13

15-19 20-24 25-29 30+

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

199

0 91 92 93 94

199

5 96 97 98 99

200

0

01 02 03 04

200

5 06 07 08 09

201

0 11 12

201

3

Ontario Canada BC




Participation Rate

Another very relevant indicator in examining the realities of the labour market for youth is the

participation rate — that is, the proportion of individuals who are actively part of the labour force,

either because they are working or looking for work. Among the older age categories, the participation

rate declines as individuals retire early voluntarily or because of poorer health, or find their skills have

become obsolete. Among the younger age groups, the most relevant consideration is whether to stay in

school longer to improve one’s chances in the labour market, which affects the participation rate.

Figure 4 illustrates the change in the participation rate among select age groups in British Columbia

over the last 15 years or so.

Figure 4 Participation Rate for Select Age Groups, British Columbia (1990‒2013)

Some of the key findings related to the participation rate of specific age groups are as follows:

Among those aged 30 years or older, the rate hardly changed at all from 1990 to 2013; in fact, the

rate for males during this period dropped slightly, while the number rose for women, reflecting the

increase in the number of females who joined and stayed in the workforce over that time.

Among those aged 25‒29 years, the participation rate was also generally stable, although once

again there are some differences for males and females: among males, the participation rate

dropped from 93.5 per cent in 1990 to 87.5 per cent in 2013, while for females, the number went

from 76.4 per cent in 1990 to 79.9 per cent in 2013.

Among those aged 20‒24 years, the participation rate showed a steady drop through the 1990s,

increasing in the early 2000s until the recession, after which it dropped again then leveled out.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

19

90

91

92

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94

19

95

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99

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01

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07

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10

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12

20

13

15-19 20-24 25-29 30+




Among those aged 15‒19 years, the participation rate also dropped in the 1990s and then rose in

the 2000s, but then starting decreasing again after the recession.

The significantly lower participation rate among the youngest age group is mirrored by the data on

youth participation in the labour force as it relates to educational attainment. Figure 5 provides the

data for the following levels of educational attainment:

No certificate: no high school diploma

High school: a high school diploma

Some post-secondary education: a high school diploma as well as some post-secondary education

Certificate/diploma: a post-secondary trades certificate or college diploma

University: a university degree.

Figure 5 Participation Rate by Educational Attainment for 15‒24 year olds, British Columbia

(1990‒2013)

Almost all categories of educational attainment have seen some drop in their participation rate

between 1990 and 2013, however it has been most pronounced among young people with no

educational certificate. Overall, those with a university degree have seen no change in their

participation rate, although the figures from year to year vary. This is primarily because that category

represents a smaller percentage of the total population and the data, which are the results of a survey,

can be subject to variations caused by a small sample size. (For the same reason, there is no figure

reported for 2011, because of the lower quality of the data).

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

19

90

91

92

93

94

19

95

96

97

98

99

20

00

01

02

03

04

20

05

06

07

08

09

20

10

11

12

20

13

No certificate High school Some post-secondary

Certificate/diploma University




School Attendance

School attendance is another factor impacting the labour market for youth. The drop in labour force

participation rates are countered by a corresponding increase in the proportion of youth in each age

category attending school. Tables 1 and 2 provide the data for school attendance, both full-time and

part-time, for males and females separately, comparing the school years 1977‒78 and 2012‒13.1

Table 1 School Attendance by Select Age Groups, Full- and Part-time Male Students, British

Columbia, 1977‒78 and 2012‒13

MALES 15‒19 year olds 20‒24 year olds 25‒29 year olds

1977‒78 2012‒13 1977‒78 2012‒13 1977‒78 2012‒13

Part-time 1.7% 5.5% 4.1% 6.1% 4.5% 3.8%

Full-time 62.5% 76.5% 13.6% 35.2% 4.6% 10.5%

TOTAL 64.2% 82.0% 17.7% 41.3% 9.1% 14.3%

Figure 6 School Attendance by Select Age Groups, Full- and Part-time Male Students, British

Columbia, 1977‒78 and 2012‒13

1 The calculation is derived from the Labour Force Survey data on full- and part-time students during

school months. The numbers for each month from September to April have been averaged out to

produce a figure for that school year, and the resulting figures for 1977‒78 and 2012‒13 are compared.

64.2%82.0%

17.7%

41.3%

9.1% 14.3%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1977-78 2012-13 1977-78 2012-13 1977-78 2012-13

15-19 years old 20-24 years old 25-29 years old

Part-time Full-time




The school attendance rates for males have changed considerably since the late 1970s. A significant

majority of 15‒19-year-old males remain in school, while the greatest increase in school attendance in

proportionate terms was among 20‒24-year-old males (more than doubling overall, with the largest

jump occurring among full-time attendees).

The figures for females show exactly the same trend, with even greater increases in school attendance

in all categories, but particularly pronounced increases among 20‒24 and 25‒29 year olds. In both

these age categories, women had a lower school attendance rate than males in 1977-78, and by 2012-

13 they exceeded that of males.

Table 2 School Attendance by Select Age Groups, Full- and Part-time Female Students, British

Columbia, 1977‒78 and 2012‒13

FEMALES 15‒19 year olds 20‒24 year olds 25‒29 year olds

1977‒78 2012‒13 1977‒78 2012‒13 1977‒78 2012‒13

Part-time 1.4% 4.9% 4.0% 8.3% 4.4% 5.2%

Full-time 63.2% 78.3% 9.1% 35.6% 2.6% 11.4%

TOTAL 64.6% 83.2% 13.1% 43.9% 7.0% 16.6%

Figure 7 School Attendance by Select Age Groups, Full- and Part-time Female Students, British

Columbia, 1977‒78 and 2012‒13

64.6%83.2%

13.1%

43.9%

7.0%16.6%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1977-78 2012-13 1977-78 2012-13 1977-78 2012-13

15-19 years old 20-24 years old 25-29 years old

Part-time Full-time




Labour Market Outcomes: Job Permanence

Youth are far more likely to work in jobs that are temporary, and that tendency has increased over the

last 15 years, especially since the recession. Statistics Canada defines temporary jobs as jobs that have a

predetermined end date, or that will end as soon as a specified project is completed. These include:

seasonal jobs; temporary, term or contract jobs including work done through a temporary help agency;

casual jobs; and other temporary work.

Figure 8 shows the proportion of all workers in temporary jobs, comparing youth in British Columbia

to youth in Canada, as well as to adults in British Columbia.

Figure 8 Incidence of Temporary Work, Youth in British Columbia and Canada, and Adults in British Columbia, 1997‒2013

As indicated in the figure above, the rate of temporary work among adults has risen only slightly over

the last 15 years, from 7.9 per cent to 10.8 per cent. Meanwhile, the proportion of youth in British

Columbia working in temporary jobs has grown significantly, from under one in five (19.2 per cent) to

three in ten (29.8 per cent). While the rate of temporary work in British Columbia among youth had

consistently stayed below the same rate for youth in Canada, that gap had closed by 2013. There was a

sharp rise in the proportion of BC youth working in temporary jobs since the recession, from 23 per

cent in 2008 to 29.8 per cent in 2013.

Labour Market Outcomes: Type of Work

Youth are no strangers to part-time work, but that tendency has also been increasing markedly so since

the recession (Figure 9). In 1990, roughly one-third of youth (34.2 per cent) worked part-time, more

than double the rate for adults (14.2 per cent). Since that time, the adult rate of part-time work has

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

1997 98 99 2000 01 02 03 04 2005 06 07 08 09 2010 11 12 2013

15-24 CANADA 15-24 BC 25+ BC




risen only slightly, to 17.4 per cent in 2013. For youth, the rate climbed to half (50.2 per cent) by 2002,

then gradually dipped to the low 40 per cent range before the recession. With the recession, that rate

shot up again, with half of youth (49.6 per cent) working part-time in 2010, dropping only slightly since

to 46.3 per cent in 2013.

Figure 9 Incidence of Part-time Work, Youth and Adults in British Columbia, 1997‒2013

Labour Market Outcomes: Occupations

In 2011, youth aged 15‒24 years of age accounted for one in eight (12.4 per cent) employed workers in

British Columbia. Their distribution across the approximately 500 occupations was uneven: in fact,

there are 35 occupations where youth make up 25 per cent or more of the workforce.

Table 3 lists these occupations and provides the following information:

The total number of employees in that category;

The total number of 15‒19 and 20‒24 year-olds;

The percentage of 15‒24 year-olds working in that category; and

The percentage split between 15‒19 and 20‒24 year-olds.

The number in front of each occupation is the National Occupational Classification code for that

occupation.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

19

90

91

92

93

94

19

95

96

97

98

99

20

00

01

02

03

04

20

05

06

07

08

09

20

10

11

12

20

13

15-24 25+




Table 3 Numbers and Percentages by Age Categories, Select Youth Occupations, BC, 2011

All Age

Groups 15‒19 Years 20‒24 Years

15‒24 as

% of Total

15‒19 as

% of Youth

20‒24 as

% of Youth

ALL OCCUPATIONS 2,171,470 90,620 178,910 12% 34% 66%

1,451 Library assistants and clerks 2,475 355 295 26% 55% 45%

1,513 Couriers, door-to-door distributors 4,320 980 225 28% 81% 19%

3,213 Animal health technologists 1,915 150 410 29% 27% 73%

4,012 Post-secondary teaching and research

assistants 7,675 120 1,935 27% 6% 94%

5,134 Dancers 1,305 115 215 25% 35% 65%

5,212 Technical occupations related to

museums and art galleries 700 40 155 28% 21% 80%

5,251 Athletes 575 30 155 33% 16% 82%

5,253 Sports officials and referees 640 515 70 91% 88% 12%

5,254 Program leaders and instructors in

recreation and sport 12,870 2,450 3,230 44% 43% 57%

6,311 Food service supervisors 5,095 795 1,065 37% 43% 57%

6,421 Retail salespersons 91,440 11,465 16,915 31% 40% 60%

6,611 Cashiers 38,445 10,505 7,010 46% 60% 40%

6,322 Cooks 29,495 4,365 5,205 32% 46% 54%

6,511 Hosts/hostesses 4,035 2,180 1,200 84% 65% 36%

6,512 Bartenders 4,570 65 1,250 29% 5% 95%

6,513 Food and beverage servers 29,340 3,950 9,140 45% 30% 70%

6,525 Hotel front desk clerks 4,120 215 845 26% 20% 80%

6,722 Operators and attendants in

amusement, recreation and sport 3,395 885 725 47% 55% 45%

6,721 Support occupations in accommodation

and travel 900 70 185 29% 27% 71%

6,732 Specialized cleaners 5,805 850 1,030 32% 45% 55%

6,711 Food counter attendants, kitchen 45,175 14,830 9,490 54% 61% 39%




All Age

Groups 15‒19 Years 20‒24 Years

15‒24 as

% of Total

15‒19 as

% of Youth

20‒24 as

% of Youth

helpers

6,621 Service station attendants 2,790 600 595 43% 50% 50%

6,622 Store shelf stockers 18,155 4,065 3,310 41% 55% 45%

6,742 Other service support occupations,

n.e.c. 3,080 520 735 41% 41% 59%

7,535 Other automotive mechanical installers

and servicers 1,910 285 400 36% 42% 59%

7,534 Air transport ramp attendants 1,495 70 380 30% 16% 84%

7,611 Construction trades labourers 17,940 1,510 3,215 26% 32% 68%

7,612 Other trades labourers 980 185 215 41% 46% 54%

7,622 Railway/transport labourers 445 50 65 26% 44% 57%

8,431 General farm workers 7,775 1,335 980 30% 58% 42%

8,422 Silviculture/forestry workers 1,020 40 245 28% 14% 86%

8,612 Landscaping labourers 16,020 1,805 2,675 28% 40% 60%

8,614 Mine labourers 600 40 110 25% 27% 73%

8,615 Oil and gas drilling labourers 605 35 130 28% 21% 77%

9,612 Labourers in metal fabrication 810 115 100 28% 51% 44%

There are only a few occupations where youth make up the majority of workers:

Sports officials and referees (91 per cent);

Hosts and hostesses (84 per cent); and

Food counter attendants and kitchen helpers (54 per cent).

However, there are several more occupations where youth make up almost half of the workforce:

Operators and attendants in amusement, recreation and sport (47 per cent);

Cashiers (46 per cent);

Food and beverage servers (45 per cent); and

Program leaders and instructors in recreation and sport (44 per cent).




Even though youth aged 15‒19 years of age only account for one-third of all employed youth, there are

a number of occupations where they outnumber youth aged 20‒24 years of age, notably sports officials

and referees (88 per cent), couriers and door-to-door distributors (81 per cent), hosts/hostesses

(65 per cent), food counter attendants (61 per cent) and cashiers (60 per cent). At the other extreme,

youth below a certain age are precluded from working as bartenders, so that 20‒24 year olds account

for 95 per cent of youth employed in this occupation.

It is striking that a position such as food service supervisor would consist of over one-third (37 per

cent) of youth, and among those youth, 43 per cent are 15‒19 years old. This equates to one out of

every six (15.9 per cent) food service supervisors being between 15 and 19 years of age.

Overall, 15‒19 year olds are more likely to be employed in a youth job compared to 20‒24 year olds:

72 per cent of employed 15‒19 year olds were employed in a youth job in 2011, as were 41 per cent of

20‒24 year olds.

Taking these 35 occupations as a whole, it is possible to track the propensity of youth to be employed in

these jobs, in this way accounting for the changing participation rate of youth in the workforce. The

concentration of youth in these select youth jobs can be calculated as follows:

(% of youth in youth jobs)

(% of youth in all jobs)

If the percentage of youth in youth jobs was equal to the percentage of youth in all jobs, then the ratio

would be 1.0. Instead, for 2011, the ratio for these jobs was 3.05, which means that the percentage of

youth in youth jobs was three times higher than the percentage of youth in all jobs. This ratio has

increased nearly 20 per cent from 2.58 in 2000.2

To put it another way, youth are more likely to be employed in occupations that are typically “youth

jobs” in 2011 than they were five or ten years ago. Most of the jobs in this category require at most a

high school diploma; however, at the same time, the level of educational attainment of employed

15‒24-year olds has risen between 2001 and 2011 (Figure 10). Most of the improvement in

educational attainment levels is as a result of changes in two categories: a drop in the percentage of

youth with no certificate (from 29 per cent to 18 per cent) and an increase in the percentage with a

university degree (from 6 per cent to 14 per cent).

2 In 2000, youth made up 45 per cent of these “youth jobs,” while in 2011 youth made up 38 per cent.

However, youth make up a smaller share the labour force (smaller share of total population and lower

participation rate). For this reason, the concentration ratio better reflects the labour market outcomes for

youth.




Figure 10 Levels of Educational Attainment Among Employed Youth, 15‒24 Years of Age, British

Columbia (2001, 2006 and 2011)

It may be, however, that a larger proportion of youth are working part-time (while also attending

school), and this may account for their growing share of “youth jobs.” One possible way to analyze this

would be to look only at those youth working full-time, full-year, on the assumption that these are

individuals who are finished with school and are fully engaged in the labour force. But the question

arises whether there is a growing tendency of youth — even those who have finished school — to find

themselves in jobs that are contract-based, or part-time, even though they desire full-year, full-time

work.

It is also possible to look at these same jobs through the lens of educational attainment to determine

how education affects one’s occupation. Consider two categories of youth: those with a high school

diploma or less and those with a post-secondary degree of some kind (a trades certificate, college

diploma or university degree. Consider as well two age groups: youth aged 15 to 24 (which will include

many youth working part-time while in school) and youth aged 25 to 34 (a far greater proportion of

whom are fully engaged in the labour market: what are the occupational outcomes for these different

segments, in terms of the “youth jobs” defined above, and all other jobs (“non-youth” jobs)?

18%

24%

29%

51%

49%

52%

7%

5%

1%

11%

11%

11%

14%

11%

6%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

2011

2006

2001

No certificate High school Trades College University




Figure 11 Occupational Outcomes by Youth and Non-youth Jobs, by Educational Attainment, for

Youth Aged 15‒24 and 25‒34, British Columbia (2011)

There is no doubt that higher educational attainment results in a lower incidence of employment in

youth jobs. For both age groups compared in the above figure, the proportion of those working in a

youth job is lower for those with a post-secondary degree than for those with a high school diploma or

less (30 per cent vs. 38 per cent for youth aged 15 to 24, and 12 per cent vs. 22 per cent for youth aged

25 to 34).

The data raise three additional questions, however, based from the following observations:

Is the premium attached to a higher level of education all that significant for either age group? The

difference between the proportion in youth jobs based on educational attainment, especially among

15‒24 year-olds, is hardly a wide chasm;

The likelihood of graduating from a youth job does not change significantly between the two age

groups: the percentage of those who are in a youth job and have a high school diploma or less is

38 per cent (ages 15 to 24) vs. 22 per cent (ages 25 to 34) compared to 30 per cent vs. 12 per cent,

respectively, for those with a post-secondary diploma of some kind;

Finally, it is worth asking why 12 per cent of 25‒34 year-olds with a post-secondary education

working in a job more suited to a 15‒19 year-old who does not have a high school diploma?

It is likely that those with a post-secondary education may climb the occupational ladder of non-youth

jobs faster and higher; but the data also raise the issue of the extent to which work experience may

account for job advancement, together with — and in some instances, instead of — educational

38%30%

22%

12%

62%70%

78%

88%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

High school or less Post-secondary High school or less Post-secondary

15-24 years old 25-34 years old

Youth jobs Non-youth jobs




attainment. The next logical question is whether educational attainment always delivers the expected

labour market outcome.

The purpose of this discussion regarding outcomes is simply to raise the questions: are rising levels of

educational attainment delivering the expected labour market outcomes? Is there a way to enhance the

labour market outcomes for youth, and if so, is educational attainment the only way to do so?

Summary of Labour Market Trends for BC Youth

In summary, we observe the following trends in the data regarding youth employment in BC:

The rate of unemployment among youth in British Columbia has typically stood at twice that for

adults since the late 1990s, a ratio similar to that for Canada as a whole, but lower than the rate for

Ontario’s youth, which has tended to hover around the 2.5 mark.

The youth unemployment rate increased significantly as a result of the recession and stayed above

13 per cent from 2009 through 2012, dropping to 12.9 per cent in 2013.

The unemployment rate varies considerably by youth segment: between 2010 and 2013, the

unemployment rate hovered around 19‒20 per cent for youth aged 15‒19 years of age, 10‒11 per

cent for those aged 20‒24, and 7‒9 per cent for those aged 25‒29.

Among those aged 25‒29, the participation rate has dropped among males over the last 25 years

and increased among females; among 15‒24-year-olds, the participation rate dropped through the

1990s, started increasing in the early 2000s, then started decreasing again after the recession.

Almost all categories of youth regardless of educational attainment saw some drop in their labour

market participation rate between 1990 and 2013; however, the decrease was most pronounced

among those with no educational certificate, and there was almost no change in participation rate

for those with a university degree.

The drop in labour force participation rates are countered by a corresponding increase in the

proportion of youth in each age category attending school.

These trends have the following implications for BC youth labour market outcomes:

Youth are far more likely to work in jobs that are temporary, and that tendency has increased over

the last 15 years, especially since the recession.

Youth are also more likely to work in jobs that are part-time, and this tendency as well has

increased, particularly with the start of the recession.

Youth were more likely to be employed in occupations that are typically “youth jobs” in 2011 than

they were five or ten years before, even though the level of educational attainment has improved

among employed youth (although this may be a consequence of a greater proportion of students

working part-time while attending school).

There are indisputable labour market advantages to obtaining higher levels of educational

attainment, on average; that being said, those with lower levels of educational attainment do

progress from youth “entry-level” jobs.




In the following section of the paper, we examine the role that the demand side can play in

counteracting these trends, particularly where youth are disadvantaged at gaining access to the labour

market or advancing beyond entry-level positions.




Shifting Attention to the Demand Side of the Labour Market

Framing the Demand Side of the Labour Market

One way to explore how to enhance employment outcomes for youth in British Columbia is to analyze

more closely the current strategy.

For some time now, as the knowledge economy has expanded and as work functions across the

spectrum of occupations have become more demanding, more and more emphasis has been placed on

education, both as it relates to how long people stay in school and the increase in lifelong learning.

Employment services are primarily aimed at providing job seekers with guidance on how to find job

openings and how best to represent oneself to an employer, through refined resumes and improved

interview skills. Through analysis of the labour market data, employment services also counsel job

seekers on education and training options.

Canada ranks first among industrialized countries in the proportion of residents aged 25 to 64 years

with a university or college degree or diploma.3 However, Canada also has the highest rates of post-

secondary degree holders working in jobs where they earn half or below half the median income, the

commonly accepted cut-off point for poverty. Canadians aged 25 years and younger also report the

highest rates of feeling overqualified for their job.4

At the same time, employers regularly note the difficulties they encounter finding skilled workers for

their job vacancies. A Department of Finance background paper to the 2014 Federal Budget referred to

nearly a dozen recent industry surveys and reports where employers cite serious skills shortages.5

Various analyses seek to explain these circumstances. On the education front, some suggest the

problem is not the level of education but rather the field of study (too many liberal arts graduates and

not enough engineers and mathematicians) or the lack of effective preparation for the workplace. On

the skills shortage front, the preponderance of studies would suggest that employers are exaggerating

— that at most, skilled workers are lacking in a limited number of occupations (largely related to

skilled trades and among natural and applied sciences) and limited by geography as well (mainly

Alberta and Saskatchewan).6

3 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (2013). Education at a Glance 2013,

Tables A1, 3A.

4 Brisbois, R. Orton, L. and Saunders. R.. (2008). “Connecting Supply and Demand in Canada’s Youth

Labour Market,” CPRN Research Report. Canadian Policy Research Networks, p. 25. This report cites

an earlier study, which found almost one-quarter of Canadians aged under 25 years (23.7 per cent)

reported feeling overqualified, the highest of the 17 OECD countries being compared.

5 Department of Finance Canada. (2014). Jobs Report: The State of the Canadian Labour Market, p. 33.

The sources included the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Federation of Independent

Businesses, the Canadian Manufacturing Coalition, and a number of other industry sector organizations.

6 Three studies in particular have made this point recently: McQuillan. K., (2013). “All the Workers We

Need: Debunking Canada’s Labour-Shortage Fallacy,” SPP Research Papers, Vol. 6, Issue 16,

University of Calgary School of Public Policy; TD Economics. (2013). Jobs in Canada: Where, What and

For Whom? Parliamentary Budget Office, Labour Market Assessment 2014. March 2014. A significant




Yet the anecdotal evidence, of disenchanted post-secondary graduates and of employers frustrated

with unfilled positions, continues to weigh heavily. There remains a disquieting feeling that something

is not working.

A recent news magazine article provides some indication as to where the problem really lies. Maclean’s7

reported on research being done for the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, which

investigated what skills employers were actually looking for in new graduates. A review of job

advertisements in the “entry level” sections of three major Canadian career websites showed that even

for these jobs, most employers demand two, three or even five years of work experience.

This issue is not just a Canadian one; a report from the United Kingdom, for instance, notes that

employers there do not feel that youth have limited education or numeracy or literacy skills, rather that

they lack “working world experience.”8 A similar review of youth employment issues across eight

European countries found that a lack of job-readiness skills was hindering employment for young

people.9

It is this discrepancy between employer expectations and the reality of the labour market that is a key

element in the issues facing youth employment in BC. By analyzing the issue, it is possible to arrive at

some possible outcomes.

First, though, it is worth stepping back for some context, and consider the changes that have affected

the BC labour market since the 1970s. In those days, an individual could be expected to work for no

more than two or three employers throughout their lifetime.10 People were hired into entry-level jobs

and through formal and informal training, together with the acquisition of work experience, could

expect to advance to progressively more demanding jobs.

For a multitude of reasons, labour market practices have changed; in particular, there is now less

expectation of permanent employment and less reliance on internal career ladders within companies.

Employers now hire less for the long-term and more to fill an immediate need. Credentials have

become increasingly important as employers need some measure by which to assess the strangers

applying for their job openings. Entry-level jobs are less frequently used as a first step in a career

ladder and instead have often been transformed into dead-end positions, becoming both more

precarious and attracting lower pay. Rather than grooming employees for higher-level positions,

part of their reasoning rests on the fact that there is no evidence of wages rising sharply among specific

occupations, which would be the case were employers desperate to recruit workers.

7 Dehaas, J. (2014). “Entry-level’ jobs are getting harder to find,” Maclean’s.

8 UK Commission for Employment and Skills. (2012). The Youth Employment Challenge. p. 11.

9 Mourshed, M., Patel, J., and Suder, K. (2014). Education to Employment: Getting Europe’s Youth into

Work, p.19. McKinsey Center for Government.

10 A number of reports note that job retention rates, which declined in the early 1990s, have since been

rising: Heisz, A. (2002). “The Evolution of Job Stability in Canada: Trends and Comparisons to U.S.

Results,” Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper No. 162; Tal, B. and Exarhos, N. (2014). “Canadian

Labour Market — The Roots of Budding Change,” Economic Insights. CIBC World Markets Inc.

However, this phenomenon is partly due to an aging workforce: older workers tend to have higher tenure

rates, and the larger proportion of older workers in our workforce pushes up the figures for retention

rates.




employers expect job candidates to be 100 per cent job ready, to be able to hit the ground running from

the moment they start work.11

What distinguished that older labour market paradigm was that it provided workers with an

opportunity to hone their skills on the job and to acquire work experience, which together laid the

foundation for future career advancement. The present paradigm places a far greater onus on

individual job candidates to acquire the necessary skills, largely through education. But what is

evidently lacking is a systematic process for accumulating work experience, which as previously

mentioned, is in many cases a prerequisite for even entry-level jobs.

Indeed, what work experience represents is the kind of learning which effectively takes place in the

workplace: gaining familiarity with procedures and with equipment, becoming comfortable with the

interpersonal dynamics between supervisors, co-workers and customers, and absorbing the corporate

culture of how things are done in a particular company. These are all skills that new entrants to the

labour force (youth and immigrants) are especially hard pressed to acquire.

In this light, it is hard to imagine that the best and only response to the current dissatisfaction with our

labour market is to encourage youth to get more diplomas and degrees, or to enhance the presentation

skills of those youth lacking credentials or work experience. Obviously education and job search skills

are important, but attention needs to be paid to employers and what jobs are available, what criteria

employers use to hire job candidates, and what opportunities are made available for advancement

based on the acquisition of skills and experience in the workplace. This is the demand side of the labour

market equation.

The Importance of Workplace Training

If the employer alarm regarding a shortage of skilled workers is in large part a manifestation of the lack

of experienced workers, then surely one way of overcoming that deficit is through employers engaging

in more workplace training. Indeed, many Canadian studies over the last decade have made this point,12

suggesting that there are likely a range of barriers that stand in the way of employers undertaking

workplace training.

11 A number of these changes are discussed in greater detail in Zizys, T. (2011). Working Better: Creating

a High-Performing Labour Market in Ontario. Metcalf Foundation, p. 21‒25.

12 The following is not a complete list: Gagnon, N., Bloom, M., and Watt, D. (2005). Changing Employers’

Behaviour About Training, Issue Statement #1, The Sector Council Research Project, Conference Board

of Canada; Myers, K. and de Broucker, P. (2006). Too Many Left Behind: Canada’s Adult Education and

Training System, Canadian Policy Research Networks; Goldenberg, M, (2006). Employer Investment in

Workplace Learning in Canada, Canadian Policy Research Networks; Bailey, A. (2007). Connecting the

Dots...Linking Training Investment to Business Outcomes and the Economy, Canadian Council on

Learning; Canadian Council on Learning. (2007). Unlocking Canada’s Potential: The State of Workplace

and Adult Learning in Canada; Conference Board of Canada. (2009). Learning and Development

Outlook: Learning in Tough Times; Saunders, R, (2009). Fostering Employer Investment in Workplace

Learning: Report on a Series of Regional Roundtables, Canadian Policy Research Networks.




Indeed, a number of practical challenges inhibit greater workplace training:13

Cost: Certainly many employers are concerned about the cost of training, given the emphasis placed

on cutting expenses and seeking efficiencies at every turn.

Information: Employers might be more willing to view training as an investment as opposed to an

expense when there is compelling evidence on the return on investment for training, as well as

endorsements from business peers.

Resources: Employers may not always be aware of what training is most appropriate, or which

training bodies to enlist to deliver the training.

Risk aversion: The benefits of training are a potential to be realized in the future (higher skilled

workers resulting in greater productivity), whereas the costs for delivering training are concrete

and immediate.

Poaching: Employers worry that trained workers might be lured away by competitors.

Inertia: Both supervisors and employees may resist training, in part because it disrupts the work

routine and raises expectations about future performance.

Competence: Managers and supervisors may not have the skill set or knowledge base to embrace

training or to engage in practices that support career advancement for their employees.

While advocacy to motivate more employers to invest in workplace training could help, it is time to

recognize that a more considered strategy is needed to address the demand side aspects of BC’s labour

market challenges, particularly with respect to youth.

Demand-side Strategies to Improve Labour Market Outcomes for Youth

There are a number of elements to look at when defining a “demand-side strategy.”

As much as traditional employment services have had a supply-side focus (identifying and addressing

the needs of their job-seeking clients), for a considerable time now employment services have also been

directed to pay greater attention to employers, not only in terms of understanding their labour market

needs, but in treating employers as clients as well. This includes adopting more business-like attitudes

and communications when interacting with employers, researching industry trends to understand the

dynamics facing employers, and enlisting the participation of employers in designing and delivering

employment services.14

13 The main sources for this list are three reports from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills:

Ambition 2020: World Class Skills and Jobs for the UK, The 2009 Report, p. 82‒83; Ambition 2020:

World Class Skills and Jobs for the UK, The 2010 Report, p.96; Review of Employer Collective

Measures: Empirical Review; Evidence Report 7, November 2009, p. 50‒51.

14 One of the early studies on this theme (but far from the first) was Clymer, C. (2003). By Design:

Engaging Employers in Workforce Development Organizations, Public/Private Ventures.




Training that is demand-led has also been shown to be more effective: “On-the-job training and

employer involvement and sponsorship seem to be associated with more positive outcomes than

classroom training and programs that do not have connections to the private sector.”15

Traditional policies directed at supporting youth employment are more likely to focus on reducing

barriers to employing youth as opposed to engaging and addressing employer’s attitudes. A recent

OECD study16 characterized its demand-side strategies as follows:

1. Investing in funds that promote new skills for new jobs (where most of these initiatives are

specifically targeted toward youth — for example, training for green jobs);

2. Reducing the cost of employing low-skilled youth (for example, not raising the minimum wage too

much, or considering a lower minimum wage for youth, or reducing the employer social security

contributions for young workers);

3. Reducing labour market duality (that is, ensuring the same employment protections apply to

temporary jobs as permanent ones, so that youth are not trapped in an endless cycle of precarious

or contract work).

Another approach to this question applies a framework that has been developed in the United Kingdom

(UK), where emphasis is placed on the development of skills, which it views as having three

interrelated elements:17

1. Skill creation 2. Skill insertion 3. Skill mobilization

Acquiring generic and vocational

skills

Making the transition from learning

to earning

How skills are actually used in the

workplace

To a large extent, the initial creation or development of skills is seen to fall within the purview of the

education system, while the application of skills in the workplace is seen as a more or less exclusive

responsibility of employers. A demand-focused strategy aims to open up these silos: how can

employers make the first and second elements more effective, and how might other stakeholders

influence the best utilization of skills within our workplaces?

Each of these phases will be considered in turn.

15 Bray, J., Painter, R., and Rosin, M. (2011). Developing Human Capital: Meeting the Global Need for a

Skilled and Educated Workforce. McGraw-Hill Research Foundation, p. 9. See also: Maguire, S., Freely,

J., Clymer, C., Conway, M., and Schwartz, D. (2010). Tuning In to Local Labor Markets: Findings From

the Sectoral Employment Impact Study, Public/Private Ventures,

16 OECD. (2010). Off to a Good Start? Jobs for Youth, p. 117‒122.

17 Keep, E. (2013). “Opening the ‘Black Box’ — the increasing importance of a public policy focus on what

happens in the workplace,” Skills in Focus, Skills Development Scotland, p. 15.




Skill Creation

What employers in the present economy seek is relatively straightforward and does not appear to vary

much country to country. The earlier study of eight European countries summarizes the wishlist, and it

very much fits what Canadian employers seek:

Employers have a list of skills that they want and need; to a significant degree, this list is consistent across industries.

Specifically, employers of all kinds are eager to hire people with general professional skills, such as problem-solving, as well

as basic mathematics and writing ability. They are also looking for qualities such as a good work ethic alongside “soft” skills

such as teamwork and interpersonal skills — employers across every country and every sector consistently believe that not

nearly enough young people show basic competence in these areas.18

There is a foundational level of learning that one would expect the education system to deliver, namely

adequate numeracy and literacy skills, as well as generic skills such as analytical skills and problem-

solving, and the capacity to engage in lifelong learning. Where employers can contribute is by helping to

contextualize these skills, to identify in what ways these skills are relevant to the world of work, and to

provide guidance to youth as they make choices about their current studies with a view to their future

careers.

Employers can contribute in many ways, such as by speaking in the school about career opportunities, communicating to

regional labour market boards and/or directly with schools and colleges about what employers expect their skill needs are

going to be in the coming years, mentoring young people, and offering co-op or “work‒study” placements that give young

people the opportunity for hands-on experience with an occupation.19

These ideas have received widespread endorsement across many countries, from the United States

Chamber of Commerce20 encouraging its members to get more involved with schools to a UK report21

commenting favourably on Australian practices in this regard. However, it is unlikely that an individual

employer would take it upon herself to approach a school, college or university to assume such a role.

Institutions need to reach out to organizations of employers, such as Chambers of Commerce, or create

their own industry advisory councils that can serve as the go-between for engaging individual

employers in these tasks.

Industry advisory councils are present in high schools that have a strong vocational skills focus, such as

the career academy schools in the United States or the Specialist High Skills Majors program in Ontario

high schools.22 However, the simple fact that a school has a vocational orientation and has approached

18 Mourshed, M., Patel, J., and Suder, K. (2014). Education to Employment: Getting Europe’s Youth into

Work, p.19. McKinsey Center for Government, p. 47.


Labour Market,” CPRN Research Report. Canadian Policy Research Networks, p. 30.

20 US Chamber of Commerce Foundation. (2013). Job Skills Training Network: A Practitioner’s Guide,

p. 13.

21 Crowley, L., Jones, K., Cominetti, N., and Gulliford, J. (2013). International lessons: Youth

Unemployment in the Global Context, The Work Foundation, p. 49.

22 For more information on these programs, visit the websites for the National Academy Foundation at

www.naf.org or the webpage for the High Skills Majors program at

www.edu.gov.on.ca/morestudentsuccess/SHSM.asp

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/morestudentsuccess/SHSM.asp




employers to provide advice is hardly a guarantee that the mechanism will be a success. Consider the

following excerpts from an evaluation23 of industry advisory committees for tourism and hospitality

programs in British Columbia, proposing ways to improve the effectiveness of these councils:

Institutions need to be astute regarding best ways to tap resources of members (e.g., meetings need

to be short, focused, and provide the opportunity for substantive input on topics that participants

have been previously briefed on);

Those soliciting volunteer time should make frequent effort to recognize the contribution;

The Industrial Advisory Council (IAC) should focus on strategic issues and not on minutia of

program delivery;

Employers should enough time with the IAC to get an adequate understanding of current needs and

trends; and

IACs should consider meeting more frequently, as annually is usually not enough.

For schools to benefit from the input and engagement that employers can provide, there needs to be a

well-considered and implemented strategy for involving employers. It is for this reason that the

National Academy Foundation, which is the driving force promoting career academies in the United

States, offers a range of resources on its website directed at establishing and maintaining productive

industry advisory councils.

Skill Insertion

Skill insertion in this context refers to the transition from the education system to the world of work,

from that initial taste of a workplace, via a work experience program or a part-time job, through to

securing and maintaining a full-time job.

For some time, Germany’s success in maintaining comparatively lower rates of youth unemployment,

including during the recent recession, has been attributed to its vocational education and training

(VET) system, a prominent part of which are the formal links into employment available through its

apprenticeship system:

VET is a key part of the German further education system, with around 60 per cent choosing to pursue vocational pathways.

The VET system offers a variety of routes for young people which vary in their balance between work, training and

academic content. The most dominant of these is the Dual Apprenticeship – combining training in the workplace with

school-based learning. This model accounts for roughly half of all entries into Germany’s vocational system and is strongly

associated with labour market success.24

Such a system offers a clear and secure transition between education and employment, knitting the two

together as a way to both build skills and connect an individual to a career. An apprenticeship system

23 go2 (formerly the Hospitality Industry Education Advisory Committee). (2005). Findings from a survey of

BC Tourism/Hospitality Programs Industry Advisory Committees, p. 8‒9.

24 Crowley, L., Jones, K., Cominetti, N., and Gulliford, J. (2013). International lessons: Youth

Unemployment in the Global Context, The Work Foundation, p. 18 (emphasis in the original).




exists in Canada, but compared to Germany’s, it has far less penetration with employers and is relied

upon by far fewer youth for making the transition into a career. Nevertheless, the apprenticeship

option in Canada produces clear, positive labour market outcomes. When compared to individuals who

have no post-secondary education or complete college, a college-level trades program, or a

technical/applied college program, those who complete an apprenticeship:

Are more likely to be in the labour force, both shortly after completing their education and several

years after completion, and are more likely to be employed;

Are more likely to be employed in a job that is directly related to their training;

Have better earnings in the short and longer term; and

Report high levels of job satisfaction and security.25

For many Canadian youth, however, the initial encounter with the world of work is via a part-time job.

Slightly less than half (45 per cent in 2010) of Canadian students combine school and work in this way,

though this is a higher proportion than that found in many other OECD countries:26 “For those who do

combine study and work, the OECD and ILO found that this can lead to higher future wages, higher

rates of school completion, and improved school-to-work transitions, especially if employment is

related to field of study.”27

As previously discussed, the third method of acquiring familiarity with the world of work is what is

broadly called work experience, which can take a variety of forms:28

25 Canadian Apprenticeship Forum. (2011). Assessing Apprenticeship Outcomes: Building the Case for

Pursuing and Completing an Apprenticeship, p. iii‒v.

26 Bell, D. and Benes, K. (2012). Transitioning Graduates to Work: Improving the Labour Market Success

of Poorly Integrated New Entrants (PINEs) in Canada, Canadian Career Development Foundation,

p. 12.

27 Ibid.

28 This table relies on two sources: LinkBC. (2011). The Orange Book of Success for Tourism Employers:

Making the Most of Students in Your Workplace, p. 3‒4; Kramer, M. and Usher, A. (2011). “Work-

Integrated Learning and Career-Ready Students: Examining the Evidence,” Higher Education Strategy

Associates Intelligence Brief 5, Higher Education Strategy Associates, p. 4.




Co-op placement A co-op program combines periods of study with related work experience with is approved and

monitored by the school, and where the student is engaged in productive work; these are usually paid

positions and each placement can last several months.

Internship or work

placement

In principle, the student acquires work experience and familiarity with the workplace in return for

contributing his or her labour (often unpaid), although he or she may receive course credit. Slightly less

structured and often of shorter duration that a co-op placement.

Practicum and

special projects

Opportunities to apply learnings to a real-world problem, undertaking research and analysis on behalf of

an employer as part of a course.

Mentorship Students are paired with workplace mentors, to learn firsthand about workplace practices and norms;

usually requires a minimum number of meetings, and may involve written reflections at the end of the

relationship.

Workplace visits

and job shadowing

A more passive form of learning, provides students with the opportunity to observe the world of work

through short-term visits.

One study goes further to include such activities as employers giving talks in schools, mock interviews,

work-related competitions and challenges, as well as using virtual tools to familiarize youth with the

world of work.29

The benefit for youth who gain work-related experience is clear. They will:

Be able to better determine career-fit prior to graduation;

Have the opportunity to refine their learning goals;

Have developed specific job-related competencies; and

Have built a network of contacts for future job search.30

However, there are also clear benefits to employers:

Recruitment opportunities: Work placements offer employers a way to test out prospective job

candidates, as well as allowing possible candidates to explore their fit with a potential future

employer;

Staff development: Supervising and mentoring young people provides an opportunity for

employees to development their management capabilities;

Workforce diversity: Enlisting youth through work experience programs widens the diversity of

one’s workforce;

29 UK Commission for Employment and Skills. (2014). Not just making tea...Reinventing work experience,

p. 6‒7.

30 Bell, D. and Benes, K. (2012). Transitioning Graduates to Work: Improving the Labour Market Success

of Poorly Integrated New Entrants (PINEs) in Canada, Canadian Career Development Foundation,

p. 17.




Branding: Involvement in work experience and engaging youth sends a positive signal to customers

about the values of the company;

Market insights: Youth can bring fresh ideas and in particular insights into their segment of the

market;

More engaged workforce: Providing work experience provides a signal to employees about the

values of their employer and can contribute to greater employee engagement;

Contribution to local economic development: Both through paid placements and by providing work

experience to youth, employers enhance their labour market outcomes, which has a benefit to the

local community.31

There are excellent guides available to employers who wish to provide work experience to students.32

Both guides make clear that such endeavours require commitment on the part of the employer as well

as clarity of purpose on the part of the employer, the student and the educational institution, where

relevant.

The last step in the transition from education to work is the recruitment process for permanent

employment. There are a number of practices that employers could adopt which would be of benefit to

youth, including:

Less reliance on informal recruitment practices: Word-of-mouth and employee recommendations

still feature very prominently as ways in which employers recruit new employees; however, youth

have fewer work-related social contacts and so are at a disadvantage when it comes to learning

about and accessing job openings, particularly in the hidden job market.

More recruitment through youth-friendly challenges: Conversely, employers seeking to tap the

potential of youth would do well to access channels that reach youth, such as social media or youth-

serving organizations.

Open up recruitment to non-graduates and to those with less experience: Employers should

reconsider the qualifications they post for job openings — are these truly necessary for the tasks

involved, or are they simply a convenience to help screen the large number of job applicants? It may

be that by seeking to make the recruitment process easier for the company, employers may also be

inadvertently and unnecessarily shrinking the talent pool.

Provide feedback to unsuccessful job candidates: If part of the goal is to improve the quality of the

labour market and how it functions, then one way to contribute to this outcome is to provide

31 This list is derived from: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. (2012). Work Experience

Placements That Work: A Guide for Employers. p.6; and UK Commission for Employment and Skills.

(2014). Not Just Making Tea...Reinventing Work Experience, p. 8‒9.

32 One is a BC-developed product, cited earlier: LinkBC. (2011). The Orange Book of Success for Tourism

Employers: Making the Most of Students in your Workplace. The other is a UK piece but just as relevant:

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. (2012). Work Experience Placements That Work: A

Guide for Employers. Both are available online.




constructive criticism to unsuccessful applicants, to help them remedy shortcomings or to steer

them toward more appropriate career or education choices.33

Evidently, throughout the transition from education to the workplace, there are a number of ways

employer practices affect outcomes for youth, both in terms of acquiring work experience and in

navigating the job application process.

Skill Mobilization

This next section requires us to take a step back and look at the broader picture.34 There is a growing

literature, particularly prevalent in the United Kingdom and Australia, which considers the role of skills

in the labour market and in relation to economic performance generally. The literature identifies three

interrelated drivers: the supply of skills, the underlying level of demand for skills in the labour market,

and how skills are deployed and used within the work processes of individual organizations.

The following prescription from a Canadian study encapsulates well the second driver:

If we want more young Canadians to acquire high-level skills, and also use them in the workplace, we need to act not just

on the supply side of the labour market by fostering high school completion and participation in PSE but also the demand

side by fostering an innovative, high value-added economy, to increase the share of jobs that is well-paid.35

The more challenging issue is the third — that is, the degree to which skills are actually utilized, raising

concern about the extent to which public policy is focused too exclusively on the first driver (supply).

Business model choices, such as the reliance on low-cost, low-skilled and thus low-wage work, have a

great bearing on the demand for skills. The following description was directed at the UK, but reflects

the Canadian economy as well:

This [UK] situation reflects a range of factors, such as weak investment in plant, equipment and R&D; product market and

competitive strategies that stress standardisation, and cost‐based routes to competitive advantage; and forms of work

organisation and job design that limit the need for or ability to mobilise higher levels of workforce skill.

This ‘low road’ choice of competitive stance in turn tends to produce a range of effects that run counter to what public policy

intends — limited capital investment (with labour continuing to substitute for capital), little or no research and development,

and an approach to the management of the employment relationship that treats labour as a disposable factor of production

or commodity and as a cost to be contained.36

33 Part of this list has been drawn from: UK Commission for Employment and Skills. (2012). The youth

employment challenge, p. 15.

34 The discussion in this section relies primarily on: Payne, J. (2007). “Skills in Context: What the UK Can

Learn from Australia’s Skill Ecosystem Projects?” SKOPE Research Paper No. 70, Centre on Skills,

Knowledge and Organisational Performance; Lanning, T. and Lawton, K. (2012). No Train No Gain:

Beyond Free-market and State-led Skills Policy. Institute for Public Policy Research; and Keep, E.

(2013). “Opening the ‘Black Box’ — the Increasing Importance of a Public Policy Focus on What

Happens in the Workplace,” Skills in Focus, Skills Development Scotland.


Labour Market,” CPRN Research Report. Canadian Policy Research Networks, p. iii.

36 E. (2013). “Opening the ‘Black Box’ — the Increasing Importance of a Public Policy Focus on What

Happens in the Workplace,” Skills in Focus, Skills Development Scotland, p. 10 and 11.




Indeed, these factors link up to even larger considerations:

[A] growing body of detailed research [suggests] that productivity, innovation (in its broadest sense), work organisation, job

design, systems of employee relations, and the demand for and utilisation of skills within organisations are all inter‐linked

and that progress in any one of these areas may often best be contrived by broadly‐framed policies that simultaneously

address several of these factors.37

These insights speak directly to concerns about Canada’s performance on productivity and innovation:

For more than half a decade, Canada has been slipping behind many of its competitors in productivity... Many observers

place much of the blame for Canada’s productivity slide on a relatively weak commitment to training and skills development

compared to some of its key trading partners... Our willingness or reluctance to support training and on-the-job skills

development may have a profound impact on our national competitiveness and our future standard of living.38

Research has established the link between increased adult learning and training and concrete improvements in business

performance and productivity. Employer-supported training also fosters innovation at all business levels, including the

application of new technologies or software. Training significantly strengthens corporate culture, morale and the potential to

attract and retain high-quality staff.39

These excerpts point to the fact that it is not only knowledge economy industries that drive the demand

for skills, nor simply specific skill-intensive occupations. All industries and occupations have the

potential to be “well-skilled;” that is, places where talent is developed and applied to achieve more

innovative, more productive and higher quality work performance. Creating and maintaining such an

industry requires managerial commitment, as well as capacity, to adopt the right business strategies, to

organize work functions, to structure training and career advancement, and to motivate and engage

employees to deliver on the approach.

The UK engaged in an extensive analysis of this issue through the UK Commission for Employment and

Skills, and its culminating report, Ambition 2020: World Class Skills and Jobs for the UK, characterizes

this shift of focus to the demand side as “raising employer ambition.” However, their analysis posits

that it is not enough that skills exist; indeed, it also necessary that:

Businesses develop sufficiently high value added and high quality products and services to demand,

and hence make full use of these skills;

Skills are used effectively in the workplace to turn the potential into actual performance and to

ensure that companies can continually innovate to enhance competitiveness and seek to become

leading edge; and

37 Ibid., p. 17.

38 Bailey, A. (2007). Connecting the Dots...Linking Training Investment to Business Outcomes and the

Economy, Canadian Council on Learning, p. 7.

39 Canadian Council on Learning. (2007). Unlocking Canada’s Potential: The State of Workplace and Adult

Learning in Canada, p. 6.




The skills are the right skills, in terms of labour market requirements and employer needs, and are

thus economically valuable skills which reduce skills mismatches and provide benefits to

individuals, employers and the economy.40

Indeed, the singular focus placed on individuals to “up their game” as far as their education and skills

are concerned must be matched by a similar enhancement of managerial and leadership skills among

those heading up the companies, organizations and other places of employment that seek to apply

those skills. By enhancing their own skills, they will be able to ensure that youth’s skills are used, well

used and developed in pursuit of productivity and competitiveness.

In short, what happens in the workplace matters. Simply placing an individual in a job will yield limited

benefits if the job has limited value (i.e., if it relies on low skill levels) and/or if the job is not a stepping

stone to a better job (career advancement). This was well illustrated some ten years ago by an

extensive review of labour market intermediaries serving the manufacturing sector in the United

States. An analysis of 220 such intermediaries (from temp agencies to employment services, from

Chambers of Commerce to community colleges) arrived at the following findings:

Using a workforce intermediary only to obtain new workers leads to lower wages, to the detriment

of workers and to the possible detriment of employers (who experience both lower labour costs

and lower productivity; it depends from employer to employer whether the lower labour costs

produce sufficient savings to offset the lower productivity);

Using a workforce intermediary to plan and/or provide training reduces labour turnover, which

then leads to higher productivity and higher wages, benefiting both employers and workers; and

Using a workforce intermediary to redesign jobs leads to higher productivity and higher wages,

benefiting both employers and workers.41

It is important to ask how an employer’s demand for skills and productivity improvements might

impact on youth. Employers who view the human capital of their organizations as one of their most

important assets, warranting investment and development, will be more inclined to appreciate the

value of developing pipelines to ensure they have a ready supply of new employees. They will also be

more likely to believe that devoting time to provide opportunities for learning will improve the talent

pool for the future. That is, the commitment that would be expected of employers in the skill creation

and skill insertion phases (engagement with schools, providing opportunities for work experience,

targeting young people in their recruitment processes, etc.) is more likely to occur where employers

already embrace the value of high-performing workplaces. Attention to the development of young

people requires an orientation to the future, a belief in investment, as opposed to a here-and-now

determination to reduce costs.

40 UK Commission for Employment and Skills. (2010). Ambition 2020: World Class Skills and Jobs for the

UK, p. 84.

41 PEERS (Partnership for Employer-Employee Responsive Systems). (2003). Workforce Intermediaries:

Generating Benefits for Employers and Workers. Ford Foundation.




Enabling Demand-focused Strategies

As discussed, in the earlier paradigm that governed our labour market practices, career ladders within

individual firms encouraged investment in skills, the accumulation of work experience and allowed for

career progression. This in effect was a system, albeit one which was localized within each enterprise.

In an effort to maximize personal choice and empowerment, the responsibility for skill development

has largely been left to individuals (“if you wish to succeed, you need to invest in your education and in

lifelong learning”). Similarly, how skills are applied (what happens within the workplace) remains a

matter for employers, apart from intermittent advertising campaigns and grant programs aimed at

influencing hiring choices and training decisions.

However, making the right choices about what to do and how to do it requires both quality information

and links to resources to make it happen. What does labour market information tell us about shifting

trends in industries? What occupations are experiencing growing demand, which are declining? What

are the functional components of an occupation and what competencies are needed to perform these

tasks? What is the right way to teach these skills, how best can these skills be assessed and verified?

What institutions are best qualified to deliver this training, to make this assessment? Can these

credentials be portable? How do they link to the skills needed for the subsequent occupation along the

career path? How should functions in a workplace be best organized to use these skills, train these

skills, and allow for innovation?

These and many similar questions are not easily answered by individuals making education and career

choices, nor by isolated employers looking to improve their human resources practices. And where one

wishes to promote improvements that enhance business performance, the need for insight, analysis,

best practices and partnerships only increases. The fact is, one requires the institutional framework to

make such advances possible.

In the Scandinavian countries, Germany and — until the recent financial crisis, Ireland — employers have benefited from

networks of firms, researchers, trade unions, employer associations and development agencies, brought together by the

state, which disseminate and encourage innovative learning and practice within and between firms. These rich networks

help explain why the commitment to a well-skilled society is more deeply embedded in the more ‘vocational’ economies of

other northern European countries.42

Workforce intermediaries. With so many different players in the labour market, there is need for a

separate organization to play the role of convenor and organizer. Often called workforce development

boards or workforce planning boards, these organizations operate at a local or more likely regional

level, bringing together business, labour, government, educators and trainers, employment service

providers and others, to develop strategies to address the most pressing local labour market issues. In

Ontario, their function has been described as follows:

42 Lanning, T. and Lawton, K. (2012). No Train No Gain: Beyond Free-market and State-led Skills Policy.

Institute for Public Policy Research, p. 33-34.




Engage labour market partners at a local level to identify and respond to key employment and

training issues and priorities;

Research employers’ labour requirements to gain insights into occupational and skill needs specific

to local industry;

Facilitate local planning where community organizations agree to implement joint actions to

address local labour market gaps; and

Develop projects that rely on partnerships to respond to local labour market challenges.43

It is well known that youth-specific services do a better job reaching youth than services aimed at the

general population. Youth are more likely to frequent youth-friendly spaces and interact with staff who

are intimately attuned to their circumstances. However, when it comes to advocating for youth-specific

strategies involving employers, it would make more sense if that were done under the auspices of a

workforce intermediary that has the standing, mandate and connections within the local community to

undertake that task. Targeted employment programs can conduct outreach and engage in the kind of

support that youth require, but connection with employers should be managed by a workforce

intermediary.

A demand-side approach requires an in-depth understanding of the employer’s needs and the dynamics

of the industry he or she is operating in. This in turn requires good and timely local labour market

information, but also strong analysis of the factors influencing the use of skills across the most

prominent relevant occupations. Such insights are more likely to arise when focusing on specific

industry sectors and developing unique strategies in each instance.

The skill needs of different sectors of the economy differ: the skill mix, type of companies, and even the policies that may be

most appropriate. A sectoral approach enables strategies to have greater granularity in tackling specific problems. They

also provide an important means of: engaging employers, who often more easily associate with their own sector through

networks than at the national level; understanding employer needs; enabling them to influence relevant provision; the

enabling of partnership working; and the opportunity to challenge their skills investment, demand and use.44

The education‒employment interface. The front end of the workforce development spectrum, namely

the education system and the transition toward employment, involves such a qualitatively different set

of issues from what happens in the workplace itself that it may well require its own intermediary to

facilitate the relationship between schools and employers. A review of 100 education-to-employment

programs around the globe, which also included a survey of 8,000 young people, employers and

education providers in nine countries, concluded that sector-wide collaborations between multiple

education providers and employers contributed not only to wider recognition of the curriculum that

43 Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services (the Drummond Report). (2012). p. 284.

44 Campbell, M. (2012). Skills for Prosperity? A Review of OECD and Partner Country Skill Strategies.

Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies. University of London,

p. 59.




had been mutually developed, but also to more cost-effective delivery of training and greater likely of

more frequent and more intense interactions.45

The community college‒employer interface. The change proposed by a demand-side focus, and the

value of collaboration in our present economy, are brought into sharp relief when one looks at the

opportunities presented by community college‒employer partnerships. Community colleges typically

represent the more vocational end of the academic spectrum, and as such are a critical player in the

skills development process. But with a demand-side perspective, employers need to become as much

their clients as their students are.

A recent UK study explored the potential opportunities in the college‒employer relationship and

summarized their findings as follows:

There are huge benefits to employers in establishing strategic relationships with colleges. In developed partnerships,

regular discussions take place and through a mutual understanding of each other’s business, employers are able to identify

opportunities way beyond simply education and training provision.

The benefits we observed for employers included: working with a college can help towards early identification of talent,

recruitment and selection, and development of a local workforce that comes with values that fit their business needs.

Colleges bring a wealth of long term experience of training in skills, competences, and capabilities and of motivating young

people and adults to learn.

Colleges also give support to businesses with labour market intelligence analysis, workforce planning, applied

research/investigation and shared services.46

These latter supports could well extend beyond the workforce development realm to the field of

management practices and the implementation of high performing workplace practices. Despite these

obvious benefits, it is likely up to colleges to make the case to businesses for the benefits they can bring,

beyond the obvious training capacity. Businesses tend to be focused on the here-and-now, solving the

immediate problem at hand; the real returns, to both businesses and to colleges, are more likely to

come from a partnership built over time, as the benefit of accumulated familiarity leads to common

problem-solving.

However, in order to pursue such an approach, community colleges need to re-orient their own

mindsets. The earlier cited UK study offers up four propositions as a framework for guiding that re-

orientation:

Statement One: The primary purpose of a college is to contribute to its economy community.

Statement Two: College leaders need to develop new types of skills if they are to succeed in

strategic partnerships with employers.

45 Mourshed, M., Farrell, D., and Barton, D. (2012). Education to Employment: Designing a System that

Works. McKinsey Center for Government, p. 88.

46 UK Commission for Employment and Skills. (2014). A New Conversation: Employer and College

Engagement, p. 8.




Statement Three: The credibility of colleges with employers is tied up with what they offer.

Statement Four: Employers need to be to know their local college and what it has to offer, and

engage in a dialogue about their future workforce plans.47

The benefits of collaboration. A noteworthy insight into the benefits of collaboration in workforce

development emerges from a survey of 2,600 employers in eight EU countries (France, Germany,

Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom).48 The survey posed two questions to

employers:

1. How easy is it for you to find and recruit talent?

2. How willing are you to invest in talent?

Based on the responses, four segments of employers emerged, as follows:

1. The Renowned (19 per cent): “I am able to find the skilled labour I need and I am willing to invest

and cooperate with others to ensure this does not change.”

2. The Engaged (26 per cent): “I overcome the skills gap by training new hires and I work closely with

education providers and other companies.”

3. The Stand-alones (34 per cent): “I invest internally to fill skills requirements.”

4. The Disengaged (21 per cent): “I know that the lack of skills could hurt my company but it is not

important enough for me to act now.”

The Renowned find it easiest to recruit and are generally happy with the skills of their workforce. The

Engaged encounter difficulties finding good job candidates, but they invest more heavily than others in

training and consequently are generally content with their workforce. The Stand-alones find hiring no

more difficult than the Engaged, and they also invest in training, but they are less satisfied with their

workforce. The issue appears to be less a matter of training, but more the lack of helpful partnerships to

achieve the desirable results.

In summary, research has shown that the best outcomes for youth in the workplace – for example, a

well prepared employee that is able to enter and remain in the workforce and provide value added to

his or her organization – can be achieved where employers invest in their workforce, both in making

the transition into work as well as for further career advancement. Employers, as well as

intermediaries such as employment services, will be well served to focus on partnerships, and

obtaining appropriate and accurate intelligence for decision-making to achieve these desired outcomes.

While there is responsibility on the part of the person seeking employment to increase their skills and

ensure that they are work-ready, there is equally responsibility on the part of the employer to invest in

an employee to ensure the best outcomes for the organization and the employee alike.

47 Ibid., p. 14-20.

48 Mourshed, M., Patel, J. and Suder, K. (2014). Education to Employment: Getting Europe’s Youth into

Work. McKinsey Center for Government, p. 27‒29.




Encouraging “Youth-positive” Human Resources Practices

Rationale for Exploring Human Resources Practices

The thesis of this paper is:

The change in our labour market practices over the last few decades resulted in less reliance on

acquiring skills in the workplace and more dependence on developing those skills beforehand,

through the education system;

However, there is an element of “skill” that is largely acquired through informal learning in the

workplace, and is reflected in the premium ascribed to a worker with experience (reflected in

growing employer demand for experience);

The greater levels of educational attainment of youth have improved their longer-term labour

market outcomes, but perhaps not as much as might have been expected;

At the same time, employers note the lack of skilled workers, even while studies are hard-pressed

to validate this notion of a shortage (apart from specific areas and in certain specific occupations);

yet is hard to entirely dismiss the prevalence of this view among so many employers in numerous

industries across the country;

If indeed part of the explanation lies in a lack of work experience as opposed to a lack of learned

skills, then a good part of the solution lies in more employers investing in the provision of work

experience opportunities for students and in workplace training for their workers.

The literature on workplace training demonstrates the benefits to employers of investing in their

workforce.49 Numerous studies quantify such positive indicators as lower staff turnover, reduced

recruitment costs, lower absenteeism, fewer defects in products or services, fewer days lost due to

accidents, higher productivity, and increased revenues and profits. That being said, there are also

practical benefits that stand in the way of both investing in workers and in restructuring workplaces to

create opportunities to apply skills and to facilitate career advancement.

One way to illustrate what appetite might exist on the part of employers to undertake such practices is

to showcase the range of what some are currently doing to attract and retain young people, in

particular practices that provide young entrants to the workforce with opportunities to learn, to

acquire skills and to absorb the norms and practices that contribute to the accumulation of work

experience.

49 Garrett, R., Campbell, M. and Mason, G. (2010). The Value of Skills: An Evidence Review. UK

Commission for Employment and Skills, p.71; Smith. A. (ed.). (2001). Return on Investment in Training:

Research Readings. National Centre for Vocational Education Research (Australia), p. 5; UK

Commission for Employment and Skills. (2010). Ambition 2020: World Class Skills and Jobs for the UK,

The 2009 Report, p. 125‒6.




To uncover these employers and their practices, reliance was made on Canada’s Top Employers for

Young People,50 an annual competition which profiles Canada’s leaders in attracting and retaining

younger employees to their organizations. This is not a scientific survey; it simply presents examples of

what some employers are already doing in relation to youth, and their reasons for embarking on the

actions they have. A review of these practices reveals a number of common strategies.51

Relationships with schools: for example, Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc. has paid and unpaid

co-op placements in partnership with the local college and university, as well as pre-apprenticeship

training with local high schools.

Stay-in-school and school-to-work programs: for example, SaskTel has a mentorship program

connecting employees to high school students, communicating through e-mail and once a month

meetings, as well as job shadowing and facility tours. There is also a summer employment program

with mentorship and paid work experience. BC Hydro has a “Youth Hires Program” which provides

students with summer employment in trades and technical occupations to help facilitate their

transition from school to the workplace.

Commitment to apprenticeship programs: for example, Cactus Restaurants has a large, in-house

apprenticeship program for employees pursuing a Chef “Red Seal” certificate. The program is paid

for by the employer, and employees also receive paid educational leave to attend the classroom

portion of the program.

Paid internships with pathways to employment: for example, Arcurve Inc. partners with local post-

secondary institutions to provide paid internship opportunities and requires students to complete

an “intern challenge” before proceeding to the interview stage — a recent challenge involved

applicants solving a coding problem.

Structured on-boarding activities: for example, Infusion Development Corp. provides a “New Grad

Bootcamp,” a month-long training program that allows new employees to meet executives and

other team members as well as participate in lectures and labs on a variety of technologies. Global

Relay Communications Inc. provides on-boarding for new employees and is implementing a “New

Hire Passport” program, which includes company information and related resources as well as

participation in activities such as product training sessions and sales demos.

Career guidance: for example, L’Oréal Canada Inc. created “Reveal,” an online career orientation

game that allows students to learn about various roles and occupations within the organization;

participants are scored on their performance and top scorers are invited to the local L’Oréal head

office to meet employees and participate in team activities.

50 Canada’s Top Employers for Young People is an undertaking of Mediacorp Canada Inc., which for

15 years has managed the competition for Canada’s Top 100 Employers, recognizing the top places to

work in Canada. This undertaking has spawned 19 “top employer” competitions, some of which are

regionally focused (for example, “BC’s Top Employers”), while others which highlight a demographic

(“Top Employers for Canadians Over 40”) or a theme (“Canada’s Greenest Employers”). Canada’s Top

Employers for Young People was first published in 2002 as an appendix to the Top Employers list, and

since 2007 has had its own distinct presence.

51 The content for these examples is taken from the website for Canada’s Top Employers for Young People

at www.canadastop100.com/young_people/

http://www.canadastop100.com/young_people/




Formalized rotation through various parts of the company to acquire wide range of experiences: for

example, AltaGas’s New Graduate Development Program; Loblaw’s Grad@Loblaw; CIBC’s Graduates

Matter Rotation Program.

Structured learning opportunities: for example, Suncor’s Engineer-in-Training program includes

mentoring from a senior engineer, lunch and learn sessions, multiple rotations to increase technical

and industry knowledge, an annual engineering conference, and an internal education forum on a

variety of topics.

Working on teams with senior staff: for example, LoyaltyOne Inc. organizes a case study

competition which provides their co-op students with an opportunity to work with senior

managers and other employees to develop a solution to an issue currently faced by the company.

Social events for young people: for example, Canadian Tire Corporation has a Student Social

Committee which plans social and recreational activities for the organization’s co-op and summer

students.

Engagement through corporate social responsibility: for example, CIBC’s “GenNext@CIBC”

cultivates leadership development by providing community engagement opportunities for young

employees through the bank’s philanthropic activities.

Opportunities for feedback and consultation: for example, SaskPower created the SaskPower Youth

Network, a resource group for employees aged 30 and under that organizes youth targeted

activities and also provides feedback from a young employee’s perspective to other business areas

including benefits, career development and diversity initiatives; Canada Revenue Agency has an

Agency Youth Committee, a youth-managed forum to discuss issues amongst peers and to make

recommendations to the agency management committee.

Various forms of benefits and financial assistance, including extended health care benefits, defined

contribution pension plan, parental leave top-up payments, tuition and training subsidies and

incentives, and extended vacation time.

There appear to be two probable reasons for organizations to engage in such practices noted above.

The policies certainly make these employers more attractive to young people when it comes to

recruitment and hiring, and thus the human resources angle is an important factor. However,

organizations also know that they are not only judged on the value of their products and services, but

also on their image, which includes considerations such as corporate social responsibility as well as

how they treat their employees. Thus, publicity and marketing calculations may also contribute to these

decisions.52

Still, as one probes deeper, each organization has its own specific reasons for implementing these

strategies. The following represent four such perspectives.

52 Telephone interview with Richard Yerema, Managing Editor, Canada’s Top 100 Employers,

April 24, 2014.




Four Profiles53

Box 1 The Ontario Public Service — The Need for a Talent Pipeline

With over 60,000 employees spread across the Province of Ontario, the Ontario Public Service (OPS) has the capacity and

reach to offer a range of youth-focused programs, at a number of levels of development, in numerous communities.

Its programs include:

Co-op, work term placements, summer experience and summer employment positions in a range of occupations,

included targeted programs (for example, for Aboriginal youth);

Ontario Internship program, a two-year program, where paid interns work in various ministries;

Specialized internship programs (for example, in Natural Resources, Transportation, Attorney-general, the Ontario

Legislature).

As a large organization, OPS needs to ensure it is replenishing its human resources, and its need to fill a wide range of

specialized and professional occupations means it is in competition with other major employers for top talent. For this reason, it

offers an internship program that has a reputation for serving as an accelerated career development track. The OPS provides

orientation session for public service managers to ensure they can propose a useful offering for the intern position. In the view

of the OPS, a good internship serves the intern well, provides the relevant manager with extra staff assistance, and prepares a

potential future career civil servant.

In the future, the OPS hopes to institute a formal mentorship program, to complement the intern alumni network that assists

current interns.

53 These profiles were developed using information obtained during the course of interviews with the

following individuals: Judi Hartman, Director, Corporate Leadership Branch, Ontario Public Service;

Sophia Henderson, Director— Recruitment, TELUS Communications Inc.; Ross Hunt, VP, Human

Resources, Costco Canada; and Catherine Pitman, Communications Consultant, Department of Human

Resources, University of British Columbia.




Box 2 TELUS Corporation: Satisfied Employees Result in Satisfied Customers

TELUS is Canada’s second largest telecommunications company, headquartered in Vancouver but with a major presence

across the country. TELUS currently employs over 24,000 employees.

TELUS’s programs directed at young people include:

A rotational two-to-three year leadership development program for new university or college graduates, who receive

hands-on experience through multiple business roles, supported by a mentor and coached by their immediate managers,

with access to senior company leaders;

A Leadership Development Network for participants in the program, which offers learning and networking opportunities;

An annual business case competition within the firm which allows employees to propose opportunities that can add value

to the organization; the process includes engaging with mentors and senior company leaders.

TELUS advocates that young employees need to feel engaged, so that they can grow within the company and so that they are

participating in something meaningful. TELUS practices various employee engagement strategies with the view that an

engaged employee is a happier employee, and a happier employee is more likely to make an effort to ensure that the

customer is happy.

TELUS has found that since implementing this approach, its employee engagement scores have gone up, its customer

complaint numbers have gone down (at the same time as the numbers for their competitors have gone up), and they boast

lower staff turnover rates than the industry averages across the major occupational categories.

Box 3 University of British Columbia: Good HR Practices that Serve Young People

The University of British Columbia is not only a major world-class academic institution (58,000 students, of whom 10,000 are

international students) but also a significant employer (5,000 faculty and 10,000 staff).

UBC offers:

Summer student and paid internship opportunities;

A Postdoctoral Fellows Office which helps its 900 postdocs with orientation sessions and professional development

workshops;

A “Coaching@UBC” program that provides career and personal development workshops as well as personal coaching

support, relying on internal and external coaches;

Generous vacations (four weeks after first year), a healthy work‒life balance, tuition waivers for courses, and numerous

amenities and facilities available to staff.

The programs and amenities that are available at UBC for staff were on offer for all employees — as it turns out, many of them

have particular appeal to young people.




Box 4 Costco Wholesale (Canada) Ltd.: It’s Always Been Part of the Corporate Culture

Costco is a large-format, member-only retailer with approximately 85 warehouses across Canada. Since 1985, the retailer has

accumulated some 10 million cardholders.

Costco’s encouraging HR practices include a college and university graduate retention program, where high potential

employee graduates are identified and prepared for management positions through specialized training, a rotation program

and mentoring.

Costco pays a higher starting salary than the retail industry norm, leading to higher salaries within five to six years, together

with benefits and a pension plan. Costco has always promoted from within, with most higher level positions staffed this way.

The HR philosophy is relatively simple: treat employees fairly and pay them well. As a result, staff turnover runs at around

15 per cent annually, compared to the industry average of approximately 50 per cent. After two years, the turnover rate is less

than 5 per cent. Where some 75 per cent of staff in retail work part-time, at Costco the figure is closer to 50‒55 per cent.

As a result, Costco does not have a challenge recruiting new staff.




Conclusion and Recommendations

The notion of a demand-side strategy aimed at supporting better labour market outcomes for youth

cannot depend on simply exhorting employers to hire more youth. Ultimately, it requires a

transformation in thinking, together with supportive mechanisms to make it happen. The purpose of

this paper is to provoke a different way of looking at our labour market challenges and generate some

new thinking from the employers’ perspective. For this reason, any recommendations need to remain

at a fairly general level, and include both proposals directed at the demand-side orientation, as well as

youth-specific initiatives.

A demand-side strategy does not simply entail listening, or listening more, to employers. While

guidance from employers is absolutely critical to a successful demand-side strategy, it does not mean

that the strategy is entirely defined by employers. The preferences of individual employers may

sometimes lead to underinvestment in training, as each employer may wish to limit their costs and rely

on the recruitment process to meet their workforce needs. A demand-side strategy also needs to have

regard for the broader local economic policies, such as the desire to cultivate industry clusters, to

promote innovation, or to improve productivity growth. These and other considerations should drive a

demand-side strategy, as does the input from employers.

Demand-side strategies are also not simply a matter of raising the work skills of job seekers, nor are

they a matter of only finding the right match between the skilled individuals and the jobs available.

They also require that there be a high demand for skills and a high utilization of those skills.54

Therefore, a demand-side strategy cannot be a simple add-on to current supply-side programs, as its

focus is not only on ensuring that job seekers are job-ready, but also that employers are applying those

skills, and structuring work so that ongoing learning can take place — hopefully leading to career

advancement as well. The first step in undertaking a demand-side strategy is to acknowledge that it is a

distinct departure from a traditional supply-side approach. The following policy recommendations are

made to establish and support demand-led strategies.

Recommendation 1

The Government of British Columbia should signal the intention to complement its current labour market

policies with a demand-side strategy through the publication of a policy document and/or the

establishment of a specific office tasked with promoting demand-side initiatives. Such a strategy needs to

focus on the use of skills in the workplace as the basis for informing proposals directed at recruitment,

enhanced productivity, innovation and career advancement.

It should be noted that the new BC Skills for Jobs BluePrint55 lays out the BC government’s current

approach to workforce management, and in particular, its emphasis on employer- and industry-led

solutions, and as such incorporates a number of steps towards this recommendation.

54 This is the central premise of the summary report of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.

(2010). Ambition 2020: World Class Skills and Jobs for the UK, The 2009 Report.

55 www.bcjobsplan.ca/getskills/wp-content/uploads/BCs_Skills_for_jobs_blueprint.pdf

http://www.bcjobsplan.ca/getskills/wp-content/uploads/BCs_Skills_for_jobs_blueprint.pdf




A demand-side strategy also requires appropriate intermediaries — that is, bodies that can facilitate

collaboration. Recruiting, training and supporting career advancement among employees is complex

and requires appropriate linkages and partnerships between numerous players, who might change

based on the circumstances of different industries. These processes can be made more robust with

better analysis, research into best practices, convening stakeholders to brainstorm potential solutions,

and by creating partnerships. Such activities can rarely be undertaken by individual employers

themselves, and few other organizations have the mandate or skill set to take on such functions.

Employment services are often not well positioned to take on such a task. Generally, their orientation is

toward their clients, the individuals seeking employment. Their skill set, their funding, their scale of

operation (often at a neighbourhood level), and their shorter-term focus on the client, all make it more

difficult for them to adopt a demand-side approach, which requires intensive immersion into the

dynamics of specific occupations, the development of long-term relationships with employers, and the

promotion of industry-specific strategies at a regional level.

This is a task typically performed by a workforce intermediary, an organization which serves as the go-

between among the numerous stakeholders in the labour market, from employers to unions, from

educators and trainers to economic development offices, from employment agencies to employer and

industry associations. The function of these workforce intermediaries is to create the space where

discussions can be focused on broader systemic issues affecting the local labour market, with an eye to

fashioning appropriate policy and project responses.

The Government of British Columbia has experimented with the creation of such bodies through the

establishment of Regional Workforce Tables. Currently, three such tables have been created for the

Northeast, Northwest and Kootenay regions of the province, and they can serve as models for providing

strategic discussions on regional issues going forward.

Recommendation 2

The Government of British Columbia should share the especially promising practices of demand-side

approaches used by such workforce intermediaries as its Regional Workforce Tables and the ITA’s new

Sector Advisory Groups. Such a framework and its lessons can help inform the local consultation and

strategy development process, and would also benefit from a consolidation of best practices from other

jurisdictions.

The provincial government appears to be proceeding in a well-considered direction, with the

establishment of regional roundtables and industry specific groups, the promotion of career pathways

and the engagement of employers. Nevertheless, more could be done to provide practical guidance and

support to the work of these intermediaries, notably through the assemblage of best practices from the

many jurisdictions which have already gone some distance down this path (in particular, the United

States, Australia and the United Kingdom). There is an extensive body of literature on sector specific

strategies, career laddering programs, and engagement with employers regarding workplace training.56

56 Among relevant and highly helpful online sources: Workforce³ One, the resources portal sponsored by

the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration; the publications webpage of

the UK Commission for Employment and Skills; the publications webpage of the National Centre for




That being said, the sector strategies approach warrants special mention. In order to properly

understand the needs of the employer and the dynamics of a workplace, including the way in which

functions are organized and how skills and the upgrading of skills may affect the work process, requires

an intensive immersion into the details of these issues. Those details vary not only from industry to

industry, but also from sub-sector to sub-sector. Individual employers apply different work processes

and different business models. The functions attached to a given occupation will vary from employer to

employer, indeed even what that occupation is called. In order to be able to acquire the appropriate

expertise to be of service to employers, workforce intermediaries necessarily need to adopt a sector

strategy approach. The models and best practices exist: it is estimated that there are approximately

1,000 sector partnerships operating across the United States, with demonstrable benefits for both

employers (reduced HR costs, higher quality outputs) and employees (better jobs and higher wages).57

In fact, in August 2014, a new transition plan for skilled trades was launched by the Industry Training

Authority (ITA), as a result of the aforementioned BluePrint program. The plan included four key areas

of focused action, and a broader industry engagement strategy including the establishment of nine

Sector Advisory Groups (SAG) representing key trade sectors, beginning with the Liquefied Natural Gas

sector. The SAGs will be driven by industry and have representatives from employers, contractors,

aboriginal communities, and labour. Their role is to advise the government and the ITA on industry-

specific issues pertaining to skills training in BC. The establishment of these bodies reflects the above

recommendation, in action.

Recommendation 3

Workforce intermediaries should be further encouraged to take an industry sector strategy approach,

prioritizing industries by local importance and immersing themselves into the specific dynamics of their

workforce circumstances.

Employers collectively have the capacity to influence their peers, including in relation to skills

development.58 Employment practices that strengthen the local economy benefit all employers, and

employment practices that benefit youth strengthen the future economy.

Recommendation 4

Employer associations in British Columbia, such as Chambers of Commerce, should commission studies

that validate the return on investment derived from workplace training, as well as advocate for

Vocational Education Research (Australia); and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and

Development, primarily the Directorate for Education; the Directorate for Employment, Labour and

Social Affairs; and the Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development (in particular, the

Local Economic and Employment Development Programme).

57 National Governors Association. (2013). State Sector Strategies Coming of Age: Implications for State

Workforce Policymakers, p. 2, 4.

58 The issue of employer networks and their capacity to support increased investment in skills as well as

increased demand for skills is explored in UK Commission for Employment and Skills. (2013).

Understanding Employer Networks.




employment practices that support better outcomes for young people in their transition into the labour

force.

Adopting better human resources practices is not easy, and is particularly challenging for small- and

medium-sized enterprises that do not have a significant amount of HR capability. In those instances, it

is necessary to assist employers in learning about and implementing appropriate practices.

Recommendation 5

A demand-side approach will also require changes in demand-side practices. Employer associations should

provide guidance to small- and medium-sized employers with the goal of improving business outcomes

through better HR practices, including specific strategies targeting youth.

A demand-side strategy implicitly involves a set of values, and not only business practices. For example,

it views hiring youth as an investment in the future of a company, not a cost to be constrained. For this

reason, programs such as Canada’s Top 100 Employers for Young People warrant profiling, because they

help set the bar for what are societally approved norms when it comes to hiring youth or investing in

one’s workforce.

Recommendation 6

Labour market stakeholders, such as employment agencies, post-secondary institutions and economic

development offices, should consider how to collectively endorse or support Top Employers lists, or their

equivalent at a local level.

Advocacy and publicity is one tool for advancing a policy goal. Another is financial incentive. Public

bodies and non-profit institutions have other ways of signaling their approval of practices that

contribute to stronger communities, including through their purchasing power.

Recommendation 7

The public and non-profit sectors should establish benchmarks for what constitutes good employment

practices relative to youth, and incorporate reference to those benchmarks in their procurement practices

for purchasing goods and services, allocating some scoring in the evaluation of bids towards these

standards.

Bringing this new orientation to British Columbia’s labour market policies requires new practices and

new approaches, which themselves depend on research to help pave the way. British Columbia has

exercised commendable foresight in establishing the BC Centre for Employment Excellence as a way to

enhance the knowledge and development needs of the employment services sector and the employer

community. The Centre should make explicit that the research mandate of the Centre extends not only

to supply side issues but also demand-side approaches, such as providing supports to the province’s

workforce intermediaries.




Recommendation 8

The Government of British Columbia should make explicit an institutional framework that covers

workforce development issues, including the application of a demand-side approach to B.C.’s labour

market policies and programs.

For example, as a research organization serving the needs of employment service organizations,

employers and government, the BC Centre for Employment Excellence is well positioned to articulate

what a demand-side approach to the labour market would mean for the various stakeholders in the

labour market. These stakeholders include:

Employment agencies;

Workforce intermediaries, such as the Regional Workforce Tables and Sector Advisory Groups;

Employers’ networks (industry associations, Chambers of Commerce);

Post-secondary institutions (community colleges and universities separately);

School boards; and

Municipalities and economic development offices.

Together, these recommendations offer a way to recalibrate the focus of BC’s labour market policies,

advancing demand-side approaches to complement the largely exclusive supply-side policies applied

through the education and employment services systems. Demand-side strategies are necessary to

more effectively engage employers as part of the solution, to the benefit of employees, employers and

the economy as a whole.

Documents

Study of Demand-led Strategies: Engaging Employers to Improve ... · Study of Demand-led Strategies: Engaging Employers to Improve Employment Outcomes for BC Youth Prepared for the